From the City of Richardson weekly newsletter:
The City Council on Monday awarded a bid of $3.4 million to Ed Bell Construction Company to extend the Central Trail 1.9 miles from the Arapaho Road DART Station to the southern city limit. Construction of the 10-foot wide concrete multiuse trail is expected to begin in April and last for about one year.
The $4 million project is funded through Dallas County and the City of Richardson’s 2010 Bond Program. The lowest bid to construct the trail came in about $400,000 over budget, so the City removed some amenities such as irrigation systems, landscaping, and benches to be constructed in a possible second phase at a future date. The City also hopes to use $600,000 in Regional Tollway Revenue funds awarded for the Central Trail to help enhance the project.
The Central Trail currently runs from the Spring Creek Trail in north Richardson and ends at the Arapaho Road DART Station. The extension will run alongside the DART rail line and is planned to eventually connect with the Richardson city limit to the south and a future connection to the Dallas’ White Rock Creek Trail.
Watch the City Council presentation at
http://bit.ly/V6oiYQ
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We are extremely excited that this is happening and we’d still like to see the small gap in the plan addressed.
Filed under: Bike Change, Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Central Trail, Central Trail Construction, Central Trail South, City Of Richardson, Dallas County, DART, New Trail, Trail, Trail Construction
Does the plan address why it is so expensive? $2M per mile is pretty steep: is it right-of-way pay to DART? Have construction costs really gotten that high? Thanks to anyone who knows or can comment…
Mike,
I’ve often wondered the same thing. Why does this stuff always cost so much? For example, the cost of painting bike lanes. For some reason, that paint is really, really expensive (per linear foot), and it doesn’t even last that long. I’d be okay with the expense if the value and longevity was there.
At the end of the day, I’d really like to see the breakdown of costs. How much goes to materials, labor, administration, engineering, design etc.
There might be a copy of the bid on the City’s website – that would show for example how much for grading, concrete, site utilities, landscaping, labor, contractor profit, etc.
Design and engineering would not be under this contract – this one is for construction only.